A Better Life
by jmfantasy
Summary: Hermione goes along with Dumbledore's plan to change the past. To save her friends, and her family. To give Harry a better life. But things with the marauders never could be simple, could they?
1. Chapter 1

**Hey guys, I know it's been a while. I kinda hit a wall with this story so I'm going through and editing it and will be starting up again now that I have a couple ideas of where I want to go.**

 **This is my first time-travel fic. All of the flashback scenes in this chapter were inspired by little prompts on tumblr. As always, I do not own Harry Potter.**

Chapter 1

Hermione always knew Harry's home-life had not been an ideal situation, but seeing it now, through his eyes, her heart broke. She saw memories that Harry had probably never shared with anyone, memories Dumbledore was showing her as he attempted to convince her to go back and save them all, to change it all

 _Hermione found herself standing in the kitchen of Privet Drive. She saw two young babies in high chairs, and a younger Petunia standing by the stove over a pot._

" _Mama mama mama" chanted young Dudley, banging his spoon on the tray attached to his high chair. Harry could not have been more than a year and a half old, it must have been shortly after he had arrived at Privet Drive. He looked at Dudley with his soft, curious green eyes._

" _Ma?" Harry echoed Dudley, turning his face towards where Petunia stood. As Hermione watched, Petunia's back stiffened, and she whipped around._

" _What did you say?" she whispered looking straight at Harry._

" _Ma...ma.." Harry tried again, a bubbly smile crossing his face as he looked at her. Petunia walked swiftly to Harry, and gave his cheek a firm, rough pinch._

" _I am not your mother you little orphan brat" she growled. Harry looked at the anger and disdain on her face, and his young face looked confused, before he began to cry. "Enough," Petunia growled. She lifted his highchair and removed him from the kitchen. Hermione followed as she placed him in the hall and walked back to the kitchen, closing the door behind her. Her heart broke as she looked at young Harry and the tears still shining on his cheeks, she moved to brush them away but instead found herself surrounded by swirling clouds of grey._

 _When the world settled around her again, Hermione found herself in what looked to be a preschool. She looked around and easily spotted Harry, sitting at a table off by himself. He looked up, and gazed sadly across the room. Hermione followed his gaze and saw Dudley surrounded by a group of children, all laughing and pointing at Harry. She felt a tear fall down her cheek and strode over to Harry. She looked over his shoulder and smiled sadly when she noticed what he was drawing. There were four stickmen on the sheet, one had a jet black bob on its head, which she knew was supposed to be hair, while the other three sticks had yellow hair, a slightly brighter shade than the Dursley's she had met._

" _Dudley, your mom is here" Hermione watched as Harry quickly scribbled on the top of the picture_ _ **my family**_ _it read. Harry dropped the crayon on the table and ran to meet Petunia. Hermione followed along as they drove home, she saw how Harry hid the paper under his shirt, like he was waiting for something. Time passed and Hermione followed Harry to his cupboard where the four-year-old grabbed his toy soldier. He set the drawing beside him._

" _Maybe this will make them like me again Frank" Harry spoke softly to his soldier, tilting him as if he could see the picture. "I know they aren't my mom and dad, but they're all I have." Hermione heard the door slam, and a short while later, the bang on the cupboard door._

" _Dinner time boy, hurry up," came the gruff voice. Harry grabbed the picture and quickly proceeded to the dinner table. The Dursley's soon sat in their chairs, and Petunia placed plates in front of them all. Vernon began to eat and then Petunia looked across at Harry, who had not yet moved, and was still looking at Vernon with something akin to hope begin to glow in his eyes._

" _Well what is it Harry? What are you hiding in your hands" Petunia asked exasperated. Harry looked at her, then back at Vernon. He placed the picture in front of Vernon, a shy smile crossing his face, his gaze never wandering._

" _I drew it in class today, I thought maybe it could go on the fridge with Dudley's pictures" Harry said gently. As Hermione watched Vernon took the picture and stood up from the table. He walked over to the garbage can, and Hermione felt her anger boiling in the pit of her stomach. Vernon turned back, looked directly at Harry, and tore the picture up, letting the bits fall into the trash._

" _You thought wrong." He spoke coldly, returning to his seat and his dinner. Harry's eyes filled with tears, and he looked at his aunt. Hermione thought she saw a hint of remorse in Petunia's eyes, but it was soon replaced by a sneer._

" _May I be excused," Harry asked, voice breaking, "I'm not that hungry."_

" _Fine, but don't expect anything later if you can't eat your dinner." As Harry slid from his chair and back towards his cupboard, the world around Hermione once more became indistinct._

 _Hermione reappeared in the garden, what appeared to be the same year, but closer to Spring instead of the Autumn. Looking around, she found Harry squatting in the flower bed under the window. He had a collection of flowers in his hand, all petunias Hermione noticed. Once Harry deemed he had enough flowers he turned and walked into the house. Hermione followed him into the kitchen, where Petunia appeared to be making sandwiches for lunch. Harry walked up and tugged gently on her shirt. Petunia looked down and turned to face him, and Harry handed her the flowers. Petunia took them, a look of disgust crossing her face as she felt the dirt still on the roots._

" _Happy mother's day," Harry spoke hesitantly, as if not daring to hope she would welcome the present. He peeked up at her from under a fringe of his hair. Petunia bent down to his level, and Hermione watched the hope blossom in his eyes, and the brilliant smile that cascaded across his face as he thought she was going to thank him._

" _Where did you get these?"_

" _From the flower bed. I heard Uncle Vernon telling Dudley he was going to pick you up some flowers on the way home for mother's day, and I wanted to get you something too."_

" _From my flower bed?" Harry nodded, smiling excitedly that he hadn't been yelled at. "You mean to tell me that you want me to be happy that you pulled up the flowers I spent hours planting," Harry's brow furrowed and he seemed to realise that maybe he had made a mistake,_

" _I'm sorry Auntie Tuney-"_

" _Don't call me that" Petunia shrieked, her face going white. "Do not use that name, I am your Aunt_ _ **Petunia**_ _" she stressed the full name. "You know what, I think you get to fix the mistake you made" she growled. She grabbed Harry by the back of his shirt and dragged him out the front door. She dropped him at the flower bed and went and grabbed her tools from the shed. She tossed the flowers at Harry's feet._

" _You best find a way to make it look the same before your Uncle gets home if you know what is good for you," she dropped the tools by him too and turned back to the house, leaving Harry on his own. Hermione watched as Harry looked after Petunia, a lost look filling his eyes. His eyes filled with tears, and Hermione watched as the flowers replanted themselves, before the scene faded away._

 _This time the scene was in the Dursley's living room. Judging by the photos on the mantle place, Hermione assumed that a few years had passed. Her sadness was at its breaking point when she noticed that none of the photos had Harry in them, by all appearances, only three people lived in this household._

" _Petunia it's time for the photo, the photographer is here" Vernon's voice rang out. Hermione turned towards the sound and noticed the man in question heading into the room, trailed by a now 9-year-old Dudley and a man who must have been the photographer. Petunia followed shortly after. Hermione noticed Harry standing in the hall, looking in longingly. He entered the room stealthily; none of the Dursley's noticing him as he scampered onto the back of the sofa._

" _Alright young man, move in a little closer to the rest of the family" the photographer spoke._

" _Closer? Dudley is already squeezed between us, how much closer do you want him?" Vernon asked impatiently. The photographer rolled his eyes._

" _Not the blonde one, the dark haired one." Vernon's head whipped around and Hermione saw his eyes bug at the boy sitting above Dudley's head. Vernon grabbed his shirt and carried him out of the room, dropping him unceremoniously on the floor._

" _You are not welcome in our family photos Potter. They are of my family, not you, you ungrateful brat." Vernon slammed the door behind him, and once more the scene went grey._

 _Hermione found herself sitting on Harry's bed in the cupboard while he sat at the desk, playing with the toy soldier from all those years ago. The 10-year-old reached up and brushed a spider from his shoulder._

" _Maybe this year Frank. Maybe this year I was good enough. Can you imagine? It doesn't have to be much, even another toy soldier, then we can have battles. Anything is better than a coat hanger again. Maybe this is the year. I've been really good, so maybe they'll get me another toy soldier for my birthday."_

" _You've made your point," Hermione screamed, looking up to where she hoped the Professor could see her from the pensieve, "No more, please I don't want to see anymore." The world faded to grey around her._

When Hermione's surroundings settled again, she realized that she was back in the headmaster's office. She looked over Professor McGonagall's head to where Dumbledore's portrait was.

"You've made your point, Harry's childhood was horrible, he deserved so much more than what he got," Hermione's mind drifted back to her deceased best friend. "But he won the war for us, and you know the consequences of messing with time Professor, you are the one who told me I could never be seen when I was using one in my third year. Bad things happen to those that mess with time you said."

"You call this war won Miss Granger? There were so many losses, on both sides. This war spanned too long. Sometimes dire paths must be taken to right the wrongs that have been made. Minerva and I have run all the arithmancy for it and it's the only way. Only you who can succeed in this. If I send anyone else, the mission will fail, and time will be changed for the worst. You can do it. You can change the past and give Harry a proper family. You can make sure your best friends never die. You can make sure young Teddy will never be an orphan. You can save your parents. You can save us all. I know what I am asking of you, you will never be able to come back to this time, you will remain stuck in the past. But I also know that you are the only one I can entrust this mission to." Hermione looked at him, searching for another option, and felt her shoulders slump as she sensed the truth in his words.

"I'll do it" she said gently. She felt McGonagall's hand on her shoulder and looked back up to meet her old Headmaster's eyes. "Tell me what to do."

Hermione spent the next week preparing for her journey, locked up in Hogwarts with the Professors McGonagall and Dumbledore. She created a notebook and recorded the deaths of all the order members, looked at what missions the order did successfully and which they didn't. She created a timeline within the notebook of all the important events of the past including when Voldemort would have created his horcruxes, what they were, and where they were hidden. Hermione learned spells well beyond anything she had ever seen before from Dumbledore's collection. Hermione had already mastered Occlumency, having decided to learn alongside Harry, but Dumbledore showed her how to perform Legilimency as well. Hermione had packed her bag with various books she thought she would need, including one with the Wolfsbane potion. When Dumbledore felt she was ready, Hermione asked for one more night, to which he agreed. She left the stuff she would need and his office. Taking just her wand, she apparated to the Burrow.

"Molly?" her voice carried in the quiet house. When she received no response, Hermione walked towards the tree by the lake, a tree she knew all too well. She fell to her knees at its base and let her fingers run over the gravestones.

 _Here lies Harry Potter; saviour of the wizarding world, beloved friend, and brother. Died to protect his loved ones_

 _Here lies Ron Weasley; beloved son, brother, and friend. Died honourably, protecting the woman he loved_

 _Here lies Fred Weasley; beloved son, brother, twin, and friend, laughing in death as he did in life_

 _Here lies Ginny Weasley; beloved daughter, sister, and friend. Died peacefully in her sleep after a long battle with a mortal curse_

Hermione's tears fell freely. "I'm going to save you all, I promise."

"Hermione?" she turned her head and saw George approaching. He had never been the same since Fred died, and still only talked to a few people. Hermione knew it had only been a few months since the battle, but somehow she knew that without Fred, George would never be whole again, and that only strengthened her resolve to do what she knew she must.

"Hey George, I was just, well, saying goodbye. Dumbledore is sending me back in time. So I can fix all this. I'm going to save them all. I promise you George"

George turned pale, "Hermione you can't leave me. Please, Merlin, please stay." Hermione's heartstrings tugged, after the battle George and Hermione had turned to each other for comfort, they had become each other's best friends.

"You won't even notice George, if I succeed, none of this will happen and you'll have Freddie back and another Hermione, one who's whole," Hermione's tears fell rapidly, and George reached out and wiped them away.

"I'm not going to convince you to stay, am I?" George looked at her with his sad, sad eyes, but she knew she couldn't break her resolve. She knew if she spoke her voice would break, so instead she shook her head gently. "Then be safe Hermione, don't you dare die back there. You kill the bastard and stay safe. Please" Hermione looked up at him with tear filled eyes,

"I promise I'll try George, I promise to try." She looked up at him with tear filled eyes and George pulled her tightly to him in a bone-crushing hug, which Hermione quickly returned.

"Don't tell your mom, unless nothing changes, then tell her where I went, but I'm hoping that this reality will cease to exist, that you will all be happy. Okay?"

"You can do it 'Mione. I believe in you." Hermione nodded, and then pulled away.

"Well, I guess it's time to be off. I just came to say goodbye." George nodded sadly. Hermione stood on tiptoe, and kissed him quickly on the cheek before she apparated back to Hogsmeade. Hermione returned to Hogwarts and walked back up to her common room. It was the end of August, the children would be returning soon, she noted in her mind dully. Instead of the girl's dormitory, Hermione walked up to the boy's dormitory, and found Harry's bed.

"Oh Harry," she whispered sadly, "I'm going to change it all, you'll have a better life, I swear it." Hermione fell on top of the bed, and curled up for her last night of sleep in the future.

When she woke, Hermione returned to Dumbledore's office where Minerva and Dumbledore both waited for her.

"I'm ready." Minerva smiled fondly at her favourite student and Dumbledore's eyes twinkled behind his spectacles. "I will succeed sir, you won't die, Harry will have a better life." Hermione picked up her belongings, putting on her coat and slinging her beaded bag over her shoulder. Hermione grabbed the time turner from the desk.

"Now remember Miss Granger, it has been modified so that one spin is equivalent to one year, not one hour." Hermione nodded her head, and put the time turner around her neck. Hermione turned the dial twenty-two times, and before releasing looked around the office one more time, gracing both of her professor's with one last smile, before releasing the dial and letting the world spin around her.

"Good luck, Hermione Granger" Albus spoke gently as the aforementioned girl disappeared.


	2. Chapter 2

**Not a lot changed in the first chapter, I just edited a couple words but this chapter did have few changes in terms of the order things happened, so I do recommend re-reading this chapter and I also added a few tidbits about the theory behind why Hermione chose to return to Hogwarts instead of just returning and to a time when the order was active and joining it then! As always, thank you to everyone who read, followed, favourited, and reviewed my story, and I do not own Harry Potter!**

Chapter 2

When time stopped spinning around her, Hermione realized that she was not alone in the Headmaster's office.

"Professor Dumbledore!" Even though she knew that she should expect to see people alive in this time that were dead in hers, it still came as a shock to her to see the headmaster sitting behind his desk, fingers intertwined and lain on the desk as he looked at her over his half-moon spectacles.

"Last time I checked, yes, that was me. The real question is, who are you Miss..."

"Granger sir, Hermione Granger" Hermione looked around, noticing that despite being 22 years in the past, the office did not seem any different.

"Lemon drop?" Dumbledore held out a jar of sweets to her, which Hermione politely declined. "Well then, do take a seat and enlighten me as to how you found yourself in my office." And so, Hermione proceeded to tell Dumbledore about how she had travelled back in time to stop the war before it claimed too many lives, before it went too far. She did not tell him everything, Hermione understood temporal paradoxes more than most, and knew that to tell him too much before the time was right could rupture the fabric of time. Instead, she gave him a brief overview. When Hermione finished her tale, Dumbledore slumped back in his seat.

"This is all a phenomenal tale Miss Granger, but tell me, how do I know what you speak is true?" Hermione's mind whirred. The Dumbledore from her time had not given her a clue on how to answer this question, it hadn't even come up, as if he believed his past self would just accept what appeared to be an outlandish story. Hermione's eye caught hold of Fawkes, and she seemed to know what to say.

"A wise man once told me that help will always be given at Hogwarts to those who ask for it." Fawkes flew to her side, resting on the arm of her chair. She noticed the surprise on Professor Dumbledore's face.

"You must have truly done something great in the future to inspire such loyalty in Fawkes. He does not usually take to people so easily. Alright, I will believe in you Miss Granger. Tell me, what do you need from me?" Hermione released the breath she didn't realize she was holding.

"Well, first off, I think it would be best if I was integrated into Hogwarts life, so I can build trust with future members of the order. I was thinking I could start my sixth year. I can write my OWLs here if you'd like so that they have proof that I am capable of attending all the classes at Hogwarts in my sixth year. We can say I am a transfer student from Beauxbatons, as I am quite adequate in French. I will keep my name; however, I think it would be best if we pretend I am a half-blood. Muggle father, witch mother, died in a car crash over the summer. I transferred here to be closer to you, godfather. Mind you, this is all assuming you approve." Hermione knew she wasn't being completely honest with her reasoning for wanting to enter Hogwarts as a sixth year student but, she knew she couldn't tell him she wanted to gain Severus, Peter and Regulus' trust before Voldemort got to him. After all, she hadn't come back in time just to give Harry a better life, she was going to help them all if she could.

"I assume you planned this all out with my future self?" Hermione merely nodded in agreement. "Then I will assume it was well thought out, and I agree. Well, you must be sorted, or would you prefer to re-enter your old house?"

"I believe that would be best sir, I think my influence is needed most there."

"Very well, then I shall arrange for you to write your OWLs. I assume you remember enough of your education that to write them in two weeks time would be enough preparation?"

"Yes sir, that will be fine. If it is alright, I'll stay in the Gryffindor dorms for the remainder of the summer. Should you need me I will most likely be in the library, or you can send me an owl."

"Is that all then Miss Granger?"

"Yes, thank you sir." Albus looked at the young woman before him, and his loyal familiar beside her, as she stood to go.

"Thank you Miss Granger, I can't imagine what you must have given up to come here and protect us all," Hermione smiled sadly back at her Professor,

"There wasn't much left to give up Professor." She bowed her head and made for the door. When she opened it, Hermione paused for a moment remembering something,

"Sorry sir, if you don't mind, what is the exact date? We modified the time turner to move by years not hours, but it wasn't something we exactly had a manual for, and I might be a month or two off."

"It is July 15th Miss Granger." Hermione nodded, and headed off towards her common room.

"Not too bad," she muttered to herself, "only a month off." As Hermione weaved her way back to the common room, she was careful to avoid the hallways where she saw her friends killed. She didn't quite know how she was going to handle going to the Great Hall again but figured she could deal with it at a later time. When Hermione reached the common room, she headed up to the girls dorm that had the sixth year girls sign above it. She was shocked to realize that it was the same dorm she had spent her Hogwarts years in. Hermione walked forward and placed her beaded bag on the bed, flopping down next to it. With a lazy flick of her wand, she sent everything unpacking, conjuring a trunk to sit at the foot of her bed as well. Once done, Hermione rolled over and fell promptly asleep.

" _Harry?" The man with jet black hair turned to face the bushy-haired brunette witch who had called his name, his emerald green eyes falling on her._

" _Hermione."_

" _Oh Harry," Hermione threw herself against the boy, clinging to him. It took her a minute to realize that he was not hugging her back, and she pulled away to look at him. "Harry?"_

" _You failed Hermione. You were supposed to protect all of us. You claim to be some brainy know-it-all but in the end that doesn't matter. You didn't know enough to save us. It's your fault."_

" _Yeah, all your fault," Hermione whipped around to see Ron approaching. "I should have known you weren't worth it. I died to save you, and what have you done? Nothing. You sat around moping and now what, you're going back to school? Must be nice to be able to throw it all away and start over. I don't know what I saw in you."_

" _Ron," Hermione whimpered, "Ron, I love you, how can you say that?"_

" _Because it's true Hermione," Hermione turned and saw Ginny approaching, "Who could ever really love you. We kept you around for your brain, thought it would help to have knowledge on our side. But that's all you were good for, and you weren't even good for that. Couldn't even save me from that curse. Nose stuck in a book, and you did nothing for me, nothing."_

" _Don't take it personally Gin, she couldn't save me from a wall, a bloody wall. She couldn't save anyone, could you Hermione," Fred's normally cheerful face leered down at her. "You couldn't save anyone, so why you? Why would Dumbledore waste his time with you."_

" _I don't know" Hermione spoke through her tears, "I'm so sorry, I wanted to save all of you, that's why I'm here. I'm sorry, so sorry." Hermione buried her head in her hands as they closed in around her, their words echoing in her head._

" _Your fault."_

" _Can't save anyone"_

" _Good for nothing"_

" _Know-it-all"_

Hermione sat bolt upright in bed, tears falling from her eyes. Hermione usually woke screaming from nightmares of the war, those were easier to handle, but these, the ones where they blamed her and yelled at her, Hermione didn't know to handle those dreams. She removed her wand from under her pillow, and flicked it, casting the tempus charm.

3:02am shone briefly in the air. Hermione sighed, knowing she wasn't going to be able to fall asleep, and pulled Harry's version of the Marauder's map from her bedside table.

"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good." Hermione examined the map, seeing that Dumbledore appeared to be in his chambers, Filch was roaming the dungeons, Madame Pince was also retired, and so was Hagrid. Hermione made up her mind and grabbed her robe.

"Mischief managed." She made her way to the kitchens, tickling the pear when she arrived in front of the portrait of the bowl of fruit. As soon as she entered, a house elf was in front of her.

"Hello mistress, how can Tinky help yous?" Hermione smiled down at the elf,

"A warm croissant and a cuppa if you don't mind."

"Of course, right away miss." Hermione sat at the bench and pulled out the book she had brought with her. Charles Dickens 'A Tale of Two Cities'. Hermione sat and read while sipping her tea and enjoying her croissant, and before she knew it her watch was beeping her 8:00am alarm at her.

"Thank you Tinky," Hermione called as she stood to leave,

"Anytime Miss, anytime." Hermione turned and headed to the library, pulling down all the books she knew she would need for her OWLs. Over the next two weeks Hermione did exactly as she told the headmaster she would. She spent her time either in the library or the Gryffindor common room, preparing for her exams. She knew she didn't truly need to study, she remembered all of the material, but it provided her with a welcome distraction. At night, Hermione would attempt to sleep, averaging 3-4 hours a night, and then would head to the kitchen, where she would read a fictional novel or talk to Tinky while she enjoyed a cuppa. At the beginning of the third week, Hermione started her OWLs, taking Transfiguration, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Potions, Herbology, Arithmancy, Astronomy, History of Magic, Ancient Runes and Charms. Once complete, Hermione found herself lacking in things to do. She knew that Dumbledore was assembling the Order now; there was nothing she could do until it was up and running.

Three days after Hermione had written her final exam, she decided she would go introduce herself to Hagrid. Wandering down the path to his hut, Hermione's mind flashed back to the night where Bellatrix set it on fire, and she had to stop momentarily to remind herself that it wasn't happening right now. She took three calming breaths, closing her eyes, and locking the memory back behind it's door in her mind. Hermione took one more deep breath and then resumed her path, knocking on the door.

"Just a mo'" she heard the voice from inside call. Hagrid opened the door and shock seemed to register on his face, "Hello, and who might you be?"

"Hermione," she offered him her hand.

"Oh, you're that transfer student right?" Hermione nodded, "Dumbledore told me you were here, whatcha doin at me hut?"

"Well, there's no one in the castle and well..." Hermione trailed off, realizing she had been about to say that she wanted to see a familiar face.

"I get it, it gets lonely up there by yourself. Well come in then," Hagrid stood back and opened the door. "I'm Hagrid by the way, Rubeus Hagrid, though I guess you know that." Hermione giggled and nodded. She looked around, expecting to see Fang, but was disappointed when the dog did not appear. She then remembered that she was 22 years in the past, Fang would not even be born yet. Hagrid offered her tea, which she gladly accepted and he joined her at the table,

"How'd your exams go? Dumbledore said you were writing your OWLs."

"Well, I think. I guess I won't really know until the owl arrives with the results." Hermione and Hagrid fell into an easy conversation for the rest of the afternoon until Hermione headed back up to the castle for dinner.

When Hermione came back the next day, she saw Hagrid heading into the forest,

"Hagrid! Wait up!"

"Hermione!" Hagrid beamed at her, "Sorry can't do tea right now, I was just about ter head into the forest, got some animals to look after."

"I'll come!" Hagrid looked at her skeptically,

"Really? Most people don't like to go that deep into the forest."

"I'm sure it'll be fine. If you're safe in there, I should be too, so long as we stick together, right?"

"Alright then," Hagrid grinned, and lead the way into the forest. As they walked Hermione kept her eyes wandering, taking in everything she could.

"Here we are, first stop. These are called-"

"Thestrals," Hermione whispered. She walked towards the nearest one, and gently stroked it. She felt her eyes glisten, remembering all the reasons she could see them.

"Er, yeah. You can see 'em then? You can only see 'em if-"

"You've watched someone die, I know. If you don't mind though Hagrid, I don't really want to talk about why I can see them," Hermione whispered. Hagrid hesitated but then nodded his acquiescence.

"Alright. Well, I came to feed them." Hagrid tossed the cow carcass on the ground for the animals. The one Hermione was stroking looked at her, and paused for a moment, as if reading her sadness. It nudged its face gently against her palm and then turned to the meat. "This way then," Hermione followed Hagrid, considerably more somber than she was before.

"Hagrid, they're beautiful," she said in awe, noticing their next stop. No matter how many times she saw them, Hermione was always entranced by unicorns.

"They are, aren't they?" Hermione nodded, revelling in the beauty of the unicorn and its young golden foal. Hagrid seemed to notice her appreciation, and let out a chuckle.

"Have you never seen one before?"

"A few times, my teacher had live unicorns for our lesson on them. My friends and I came across a dead one a few years back," Hermione responded without thinking.

"You've seen a dead unicorn?" Hagrid looked mortified, and Hermione's realized what she said.

"Only once, and it was awful, killed for its horn" she lied. Hagrid nodded sadly, before returning his gaze to the unicorn.

"Look," he whispered, Hermione turned back around and noticed the young foal approaching her cautiously. Hermione stayed absolutely still and allowed it to approach. When it stood in front of her, she carefully reached out her hand. At first, the beautiful creature pulled away, but then re-approached and leaned her head up into Hermione's hand. Hermione ran her hand down the soft fur, smiling up at Hagrid.

"Well, I think we know we can trust you then eh? Unicorns are a great judge of character, they won't go near ya' if you're inter dark magic." Hagrid grinned at her, and Hermione smiled in return. "You can stay here with them if you'd like, but I've gotta move on, I just came to check that she was developing alright. She's only a week old now."

"No I'll come." Hermione gently rubbed the unicorn's snout before standing and following Hagrid. They continued to walk deeper into the forest, and Hermione felt a ball of unease growing in her stomach.

"Hagrid, where are we going?" Hermione whispered in concern as he led her off the path. She noticed a trail of spiders and felt the ball tighten, praying they weren't visiting Aragog.

"Going to see an old friend of mine, he'll love you," Hermione resigned herself to her fate, hoping she would be safe as she was actually with Hagrid.

"Aragog!" he called once they were inside the spider's den. Hermione heard rustling, and then the biggest spider she had ever seen appeared before them. "This is Hermione, she's new here, wandering the forest with me. Thought she might like to meet you. Hermione, this is Aragog, my oldest friend." Hermione nodded slowly, not removing her eyes from the spider in front of her, pretending she didn't notice the spiders crawling around above her.

"How do you do?" Aragog appeared to be analyzing whether she was a threat or not.

"Fine, and yourself Aragog?"

"Hagrid ensures we are always fine," Hermione released a breath when the spider shifted its eyes to Hagrid. Their conversation was a buzz to Hermione who was just waiting until she could leave. She tuned in when she heard Hagrid say goodbye to the spider.

"Pleasure," she nodded her head in goodbye to the spider, and rushed out after Hagrid.

"Hagrid? An acromantula is your oldest friend?" Hagrid looked at Hermione and seemed to realize she was a little freaked out,

"Yeah. But don't worry, he's completely harmless. Only feeds on what he finds in the forest. You're okay" Hermione nodded hesitantly and followed Hagrid out of the forest. Not voicing her concern over what would happen if the food Aragog and his children found in the forest was her. When they stepped onto the ground by his house, Hermione realized they had been in the forest the whole day and the sun was setting.

"Well, I best be getting back to the castle. I had fun today Hagrid," Hermione smiled kindly at him, and the two new friends said their goodbyes. The rest of the summer passed in a similar fashion, Hermione spending time with Hagrid either in the forest, or enjoying tea, while Dumbledore rounded up the members of the order from the list she had given him. Her OWLs finally came in, results the same as the first time, except she had achieved an O in DADA as well, the highest marks that year they had written in her letter. Finally Hermione, found herself going to bed the night before the students returned for the term. Her last conscious thought was ' _I meet Harry's parents tomorrow'_ and then sleep invaded her thoughts.


	3. Chapter 3

**So there were small changes in this chapter as well, if you haven't already, go back and read the previous chapters, I have been editing and making changes. Mostly minor things so far, but I do still recommend returning and re-reading them.**

 **I do not own Harry Potter.**

 **Thank you to everyone who has stuck with me, read, followed, favourited, and reviewed my story.**

Chapter 3

When Hermione woke up that morning she felt sick, she wasn't sure why immediately and then she remembered that the students came back to Hogwarts today. She had no idea how she was going to be able to look at James and not see her late best friend. She wasn't sure how she would look at Remus without remembering the life he lost and the son he left behind. Or Sirius without remembering how his death was the catalyst for the war starting full-scale. How empty Harry looked all the time after he died. She had no idea how she would be able to do that, but the part that scared her most was meeting Peter. It wasn't that she feared him, more that she was scared of what she would do when she saw him. Even thinking about him, Hermione wanted to strangle him, so she knew that the hard part would be restraining herself in front of him. She had no desire to allow him to remain with the marauders, especially if she couldn't change his fate. But she also knew that she had to gain his trust before she could influence the path he was on, the path all of them were on.

Hermione decided to wander the grounds while she waited for the students to arrive, she couldn't visit Hagrid because he had told her he had a few errands to run in Hogsmeade, and then he had to pick up the first years, so Hermione was by herself. She found herself sitting by the black lake, under the tree where Harry, Ron, and her had spent many afternoons enjoying the sun.

"Wish you were here," she whispered softly, but her voice was carried away by the wind, not that anyone would have heard it anyways.

"Miss Granger, I thought I might find you here," she looked up into the kind eyes of Professor Dumbledore, "if you would follow me there are a few things I wish to discuss with you." Hermione nodded, and stood, following the Professor to his office.

"I assume you have had a pleasant summer?" he implored on their journey,

"Yes, thank you for everything you've done so far for me,"

"My dear, you don't need to thank me, besides Hagrid has quite enjoyed your company. He's told me multiple times what a wonderful young woman you are,"

"Thank you sir," Hermione blushed, not meeting her Professor's keen gaze,

"I'm not telling you this to embarrass you Hermione," Hermione looked up in shock that Dumbledore had used her first name, and met his kind eyes, "I'm telling you so that you remember that you aren't alone here." His voice was soft and gentle, and Hermione could do no more than nod in acknowledgement. They reached his office, and Hermione sat across from the headmaster, and he sat down behind the desk.

"I have done as you suggested. The Order of the Phoenix has been established, and I would like for you to be there for meetings so you can help decide from your knowledge of the future which missions should be embarked upon, and which ones shouldn't. However, that means you will require a cover story for why you aren't here certain nights. I was thinking we could tell everyone I am teaching you in a subject. Is there a subject that we offer at Hogwarts that you are interested in?" Hermione thought on it, trying to determine what classes Hogwarts offered if there was enough interest, that wouldn't be running, and that she hadn't already learned.

"Perhaps Alchemy sir?" Dumbledore nodded thoughtfully,

"That will work. No one else signed up to take the course, so we will say you did and are receiving private instruction from me. Wonderful. Now, Miss Granger, is there anything else you wish to tell me?" Dumbledore looked at her over his half-moon spectacles, and Hermione thought carefully, before shaking her head.

"I don't think there is anything that is critical at the moment sir."

"Then you may go. I will see you this evening at the welcome feast." Hermione stood and went to walk out the door, before noticing Fawkes, who looked very majestic,

"Did you just hatch again?" she whispered, walking forward slowly, and stroking his feathers.

"Yes, just last week, how'd you know?" Dumbledore approached his familiar as well.

"I've never seen him look so lovely, I just assumed he must be at the beginning of his current life cycle," Fawkes nudged her hand with his beak, and Hermione stroked his head once more before turning back to the door. "Have a lovely day sir," Dumbledore nodded, looking pensively at her, and Hermione made her way back to the Gryffindor common room. She went and grabbed the current book she was reading, Emma by Jane Austin, and settled into the couch in front of the fire, reading until it was time to head down to the feast.

When the time finally came, Hermione's stomach was in knots, but she took a deep breath, and summoned her Gryffindor courage.

"You can do this Hermione, you can do this," was her internal monologue as she made her way to the Great Hall. She merged into the crowd of students entering the castle, and made her way to the Gryffindor table. She sat at the end by herself, watching the door for the marauders or Lily to enter. When she finally saw them, she had to remind herself to keep breathing, it was a shock to see them not only alive, but laughing. Lily was walking with Remus and blonde girl who looked vaguely familiar to Hermione. Sirius and James were talking and laughing riotously, and Hermione carefully avoided looking at Peter.

"This is why you're here, Hermione," she reminded herself, "to make sure they live, and keep on smiling like that. Don't screw up and you can keep seeing them like that." Hermione turned back to the teachers table but she realized the marauders noticed her. They had been walking her way, and talking loudly, and then it stopped.

"Who's that?" she heard James, or at least she assumed it was James, as she would recognize the other three marauders voices.

"I don't know," Sirius. She remembered his voice so clearly.

"Instead of standing here and whispering, why don't you go talk to her," she assumed that was Lily, "Actually don't, we don't want to scare her off,

"Hey! That wasn't nice Evans. Come on admit it, you just don't want me going and cozying up to another girl. I knew you were secretly in love with me."

"Ugh, I am not in love with you James," Lily sounded exasperated, and Hermione heard footsteps start towards her again.

"Hi," she heard the voice again behind her, and turned around to face the red-headed beauty. "I'm Lily, Lily-"

"Evans" Hermione finished, shaking her hand, "I heard," she indicated towards the marauders, and Lily flushed, "I'm Hermione. Hermione Granger."

"Nice to meet you Hermione," Lily sat beside her, and the blonde girl that Hermione had seen Lily talking to earlier came and joined them.

"So who are you, and what are you doing at Hogwarts?" she asked Hermione as she sat down,

"Marlene!" Lily looked mortified at Marlene's direct approach,

"It's okay," Hermione smiled kindly at Lily, seeing Harry's kind eyes looking right back, and feeling a pang of sadness wash over her. She looked away, returning her gaze to Marlene. "My name's Hermione, I'm a transfer student."

"I didn't realize Hogwarts did the whole transfer students thing," Marlene raised an eyebrow at Hermione, who shifted in her seat.

"Yes well, they do. Just because there aren't many doesn't mean it's not possible, especially in certain circumstances." Hermione looked down at her plate, unable to meet the eyes of the two girls beside her. She felt a hand on her arm, and looked up to see Lily looking at her with a sympathetic gaze.

"It's okay. It's your story; you don't have to tell us." Hermione nodded, but knew that she would have to tell them at some point. Well, the fake story anyways.

"Hello love," Hermione felt the bench dip beside her, and turned to face Sirius, "I'm Sirius Black. Dashing, lovable,-"

"Mutt" James finished, sitting across from her and beside Marlene,

"Oi!" Sirius exclaimed "I was going to say kind-hearted,-"

"Lying," Remus put in, sitting beside James. Sirius pouted,

"You guys are ruining my chance here, as I was saying: dashing, lovable, kind-hearted, funny, and-"

"Vain," Hermione heard Peter's voice, and watched as he sat beside Sirius, and she fought every instinct in her body that was telling her to hex him. _'If you want to save him, you can't think like this'_ she chastised herself.

"and intelligent." Sirius glared at his friends,

"Pleasure," Hermione extended her hand and shook his, "Hermione Granger."

"I'm Remus,"

"James"

"Peter" Hermione smiled kindly across the table at James and Remus,

"Nice to meet you,"

"So what's your story love," Sirius asked, putting his arm around her shoulder. Hermione shook it off,

"What do you want to know?" Hermione looked at his familiar grey eyes, wanting to throw her arms around him and hug him.

"Whatcha doing at Hogwarts?" Sirius and James asked,

"What year are you in?" Remus asked at the same time,

"I transferred here from Beauxbatons, and I'm entering my sixth year."

"So are we, oh, that means we're dorm mates!" Lily exclaimed, "There's five of us now. Marly you've met. Alice should be along shortly, she was just meeting up with Frank, her boyfriend," Hermione's mind stopped for a moment, recognizing the names. She had forgotten that she would be meeting Neville's parents, and Hermione vowed that she would save them too. "And then there's Emmeline, not quite sure where she is," Lily frowned, "And you and I make five."

"You know Em," Marlene rolled her eyes, "She probably met some boy on the train, she'll be here before the sorting."

"Wait, can we go back to why you transferred?" Sirius looked at her confused, "I didn't realize Hogwarts did transfers?"

"That's what I said!" Marlene grinned, "C'mon how'd you manage it? I mean, I don't blame you, Hogwarts is obviously the best school of witchcraft and wizardry there ever was, but how'd you transfer?" Marlene looked excited, and Hermione noticed the others all looked intrigued as well.

Hermione looked at her plate. It wasn't hard to pull off the emotion required to tell a story about her parents dying in a car crash. Her parents had died, and she only wished it had been as painless as a car crash. After the war, Hermione had gone to find her parents, only to find another couple living in the home. She had gone searching for them and instead found that they were part of an ongoing murder investigation. Their bodies had been mangled beyond recognition, they only knew who it was because they had been found in their house. So, it wasn't hard for Hermione to build the required emotion. She felt a tear fall, and hastily wiped it away, trying to compose herself before she began to fully cry. She could be emotive without making a blubbering fool of herself, or at least that's what she told herself,

"If you don't mind, I'd rather not talk about it," she said quietly, refusing to meet anyone's gaze."

"Come on, we're your housemates, that means we're like your family now, or did McGonagall not give you that spiel? Did you get expelled or something and needed to go somewhere else?" Sirius nudged her in the side with his elbow, but Hermione could tell from the twinkle in his eye he was teasing.

"Sirius is just joking," Remus spoke quietly, "you don't have to tell us if you don't want to. Your secrets are yours" He smiled kindly, and Hermione was quick to return it.

Before Hermione could tell them anything, the conversation was halted by the arrival of a beautiful dark-haired young woman,

"Who's the new kid?" she asked sitting down beside Marlene.

"Hermione, our new dormmate. Hermione, this is Emmeline."

"We have a new dorm mate? Cool I was getting bored of you three anyway," said a teasing voice from beside her. Hermione looked around Lily and say a short brunette taking a seat beside Lily. "I'm Alice"

"Hermione"

"Nice to meet you Hermione." Before anymore could be said, the doors to the hall opened and the first years made their way to the front, and the sorting commenced, complete with a new song from the sorting hat. Hermione noticed that it was significantly happier than the ones during her school years. After the sorting was complete, Dumbledore stood and the entire hall fell silent.

"Welcome all, students new and old. I would like to remind you all that the Forbidden Forest is strictly out-of-bounds. Our caretaker, Mr. Filch, would like me to remind you all to check the list of banned items this year as there have been many new additions," Sirius and James high fived, and Hermione saw Dumbledore smile in their direction, "If you could all join me in welcoming our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher,"

"We get a new one every year," Lily whispered to Hermione, who merely nodded. She already knew about the curse.

"Professor Walker will be instructing all of you this year." The whole hall clapped and the young man two seats from the end of the table stood and inclined his head before retaking his seat. "This year we also have a transfer student. She transferred here from Beauxbatons and will be with us for the rest of her school years. Please help Miss Hermione Granger feel right at home here." Hermione froze, realizing he wanted her to stand and be acknowledged by the hall. Lily squeezed her arm and Hermione quickly stood, nodded her head and took her seat again. "Without further ado, tuck in." Food appeared on the table and Hermione watched her new housemates load their plates with food. Hermione looked around the table, trying to determine what she wanted to eat. Ever since that war, when she had to live on minimal rations, Hermione had not regained the same appetite. She ate her nightly croissant with Tinky, and usually had small items of food, like an apple, two or three times a day. Hermione reached out and put a small piece of roast beef on her plate and a Yorkshire pudding, slowly eating it while the others ate, talking about their summers.

"What about you Hermione? What did you do this summer?" Lily asked, looking at Hermione.

"Oh, I stayed here, wrote my OWLs. I didn't have a chance in June," Hermione shrugged, shifting the meat around on her plate.

"You stayed at Hogwarts?" Sirius looked at her incredulously, "They don't let students do that, trust me, I've asked." Hermione shrugged, and continued to play with her food.

"Special circumstances I guess." Sirius looked at her suspiciously, brow furrowing. Hermione knew he was trying to figure out what special circumstances could indicate. Hermione's voice was quiet

"I'll tell you why, tonight though, not in the middle of a crowded hall, please." Sirius nodded slowly. Hermione noticed the other had stopped their conversations and were looking at her and Sirius. When she returned her gaze to her plate, the others took her cue and their conversations started up again.

Hermione tuned out for the rest of dinner and left her food on her plate as she walked with Marlene, Alice, and Emmeline back to the common room. Lily and Remus had to show the first years how to get there, so she had joined her new dorm mates. She retook her seat by the fire, and Marlene sat on her left, while Alice took her right. Emmeline sat in the chair and propped her feet up on the table. James, Sirius, and Peter quickly joined them, sitting on the floor by the fire. They waited until Remus and Lily had joined them, taking the remaining two seats before they all looked at Hermione expectantly. Hermione removed her wand, waving it while casting a silent Muffliato.

"Last June, just before I was supposed to write my OWLs, I received word that my parents had been in a car accident. They died on impact," she said quietly, not looking at any of them. She felt memories begin to filled her mind of all the people she had seen die, and quickly suppressed them. "I went home without writing my OWLs so I could attend their funerals, help pack up and sell the house, I couldn't live there, it would be too much of a reminder. Uncle Albus was there for me through most of it, and he offered to let me stay here. I had asked him about transferring, I didn't want to go back and wander the halls with everyone pitying me, and he said he would let me. Not to mention I wanted to be around the only family I had left. He arranged for me to write my OWLs here so I could partake in the N.E.W.T level classes." Hermione fell silent, and startled when she felt arms wrap around her.

"I'm sorry you had to go through that. Thank you for telling us." Lily's voice whispered in her ear. Hermione hugged her back, relishing in the comfort.

"It's okay. I probably shouldn't bottle it all up. Uncle Albus has been telling me all summer I need to talk about it," she finished quietly.

"Well, we won't force you to talk," Remus' voice sounded from by the fire, "I know how hard it is to lose a parent, I can't imagine losing both. But, if you want to talk about them, I want you to know I'm happy to listen." Hermione smiled fondly at Remus.

"Thank you," Hermione let go of Lily and pulled back, "Well, that's not how I intended to make friends," Hermione laughed quietly, "Telling you all my sob story."

"Eh, sob stories help build bonds of friendship. Besides now we know to beat up anyone who pesters you for too much information," Sirius looked at her, and his sad smile was so familiar to her. She had seen it too often, and she gave herself another goal, to try and make sure she didn't see it again.

"Sirius, doesn't that require you being able to beat someone up?" Emmeline smirked at him,

"Em, I know you tease because you love me," Sirius grinned at her, and Emmeline rolled her eyes.

"In your dreams"

The rest of the night passed with playful banter and jokes. Hermione smiled more than she had in months, and laughed without restraint. Hermione realized it might not be so hard to fit in here, revelling in her new found friendships by the warmth of the fire.


	4. Chapter 4

**I do not own Harry Potter. Thank you to all who read, follow, favourite, and/or review!**

Chapter 4

Hermione woke again at 3 and sighed, taking down her silencing spells. She got dressed and headed to the kitchens.

"Hi Tinky," she said taking a seat at the counter.

"Hello Miss Hermione," the little elf curtsied before her still, despite Hermione begging her not to. She had succeeded in getting the elf to call her Hermione instead of Mistress though. The little elf brought her tea and her croissant, and Hermione thanked the elf, leaning back in her seat.

"Tinky?"

"Yes Miss Hermione?" the little elf was beside her again,

"Did you ever work anywhere else?"

"Yes Miss," Tinky sounded sad, "Tinky used to work for an old mistress, but she is not with us anymore. Professor Dumbledore brought me here after,"

"Is it… well do you feel at home here? Were you able to find a new home after you lost your old one? Are you happy here?" Hermione bit her lip, waiting for the elf to answer. Tinky seemed to be contemplating her answer,

"It is different Miss. But yes, I am happy here. Professor Dumbledore is very good to us. I still miss my mistress, but I would say that yes this is home now." Hermione nodded slowly,

"Thank you Tinky."

"Of course Miss Hermione," Tinky curtsied again and returned to her work. Hermione swirled the spoon in her tea around, remembering happier times when Harry, Ron and herself snuck down to the kitchens to visit Dobby. Hermione shook her head as her thoughts began to stray to what happened the last time she visited Dobby. She took a deep breath to try and calm her racing heart, and decided to wander around the castle instead of sitting in the kitchens. Hermione traced her way around the castle, avoiding as she had all summer the hall where she had last seen Fred alive, and the other places she had seen her friends die. Hermione knew she had only gotten through being in the Great Hall yesterday because she had allowed herself to be distracted by the marauders.

"What are you doing out of bed?" she jumped, hearing Professor McGonagall's voice behind her. "Do you know what time it is?" Hermione turned to face her Professor, opening her mouth to respond, but before she could, the Professor continued. "It is 5 o'clock in the morning,"

"I'm an early riser Professor. I couldn't fall back to sleep so I decided to explore the castle," Professor McGonagall looked at her searchingly,

"Because you are new here, I'll let it slide, but we don't allow students to roam the halls at night. You are expected to be back in your dorm by 10:00pm each night. Breakfast is not until 7:00am."

"Sorry Professor,"

"Alright, back to your common room," Hermione turned and made her way back, sitting on her bed. She pulled out her notes on this timeline and began to work through different ways of collecting Hufflepuff's cup. The other horcruxes were fairly straight-forward, but the cup was the only one her and Dumbledore had been unable to devise a way of getting without drawing attention to themselves.

"Hermione?" she shoved her notebook under her pillow and waved her wand so that the text was hidden.

"Morning Lily," she stood from her bed, greeting the redhead.

"Sleep well?" Lily smiled at her new friend.

"Yeah, you?" Lily nodded,

"I always sleep well at Hogwarts, it's like my second home."

Hermione and Lily waited for their three roommates to get up, and then they all headed down to breakfast together, where Professor McGonagall was handing out Gryffindor's schedules.

"Miss Granger," she said, passing Hermione hers.

"What are you taking Hermione?" Lily asked,

"Transfiguration, DADA, Potions, Herbology, Charms, Arithmancy, Ancient Runes, Astronomy, and Alchemy."

"We have all the same classes, except, wait, did you say Alchemy?" Hermione nodded.

"I didn't realize Hogwarts taught Alchemy," Remus stated.

"It was one of the elective classes offered, Professor Dumbledore said not many people take it though, in fact, I'm the only one who signed up, so I'll be doing private tutelage with Professor Dumbledore during the year."

"That's so cool! Private instruction with Professor Dumbledore!" Sirius said, "Do you think he'll teach you some cool spells too?"

"No Sirius," Hermione laughed, "I doubt it, unless it's a spell related to alchemy,"

"I think we all are taking Transfiguration, aren't we?" Lily asked once they had finished breakfast, looking around at the assembled teenagers, who all nodded. "Let's go then." Together they headed to Transfiguration, and Hermione found herself seated between Remus and Lily at the front of the class. James, Sirius, and Peter had taken a table at the back, and Alice, Emmeline, and Marlene sat at the table behind Hermione. The entire room was buzzing with chatter, everyone sharing stories about their summers when Professor McGonagall came in. She stood at the front for a minute, waiting for the class to notice her and quiet down as her lips thinned.

"Alright, that's enough, settle down, class. Holidays are over. Any questions? Yes, Mr Black?" Professor McGonagall sighed.

"So, how was your summer holiday Professor?" Hermione could hear the smirk in Sirius' voice and the class burst into laughter. They stopped immediately noticing Professor McGonagall's lips thin.

"Lovely, now that we've all settled down, let's begin. This year is not going to be easy, expect homework levels to increase in preparations for your NEWTS," Professor McGonagall continued to tell the class about what to expect from the year, and Hermione found herself tuning out. She'd lived through this class already.

"Perhaps you can tell us Miss Granger," she was drawn out of her daydream by her name. She looked at the Professor and raked her mind to remember what the Professor had asked, hoping her subconscious had picked up on it, and heard a faint voice in the back of her head. 'Has anyone read ahead in their textbook? Who can tell me the incantation for the Bird-Conjuring Charm? Perhaps you can tell us Miss Granger?'

"Avis" she replied, looking straight at her Professor. Professor McGonagall nodded and pursed her lips,

"Thank you Miss Granger, well now that I know you were all paying attention, you may begin. That is your task for today and for next class I expect 10 inches on the possible consequences if performed incorrectly." Professor McGonagall sat at her desk and Hermione heard people begin to practice. She looked around to study other students in the class, and realized James and Sirius were whispering at the back of the room, something she assumed was never good news.

"Remus," she whispered to the boy beside her. "They won't cause a disturbance in class, will they?" She indicated with her head the two boys at the back, and Remus frowned,

"No, they're probably just planning the first prank of the year; I doubt they would do anything in Professor McGonagall's class. The new Professor? Maybe, but not Professor McGonagall's class." Hermione nodded in reassurance and watched as Lily attempted the spell,

"Avis" and waved her wand to form two connected humps.

"Try emphasizing the Ah more," Hermione whispered quietly, Lily raised an eyebrow,

"I haven't seen you do it. Care to demonstrate," Hermione sighed, hoping she hadn't just alienated Lily.

"I'm sorry, I was just trying to help," she shrugged and looked away from Lily's penetrating green eyes. Out of the corner of her eye, she say Lily's posture relax.

"No, it's okay. I shouldn't have gone on the defensive, I'm just not used to being corrected." She smiled kindly at Hermione before trying again,

"AH-viss" she spoke clearly, repeating the wand motion. Everyone in the class jumped, it sounded like a gun had been fired, and smoke emitted from the tip of Lily's wand before a flock of birds appeared.

"Well done Miss Evans. 5 points to Gryffindor." Hermione grinned and performed the spell as well, she had no trouble of course, she just hadn't wanted to be the first one to perform it. Her birds and Lily's flew together, and the two girls spent the rest of the lesson quietly talking and getting to know each other. When Professor McGonagall dismissed them, the two girls headed to Potions, joined by Remus, Marlene, Alice, James and Sirius, the others having not continued in the class.

"So, Hermione," Sirius called out, "about what you told us last night," Hermione felt her body stiffen slightly, "you called Professor Dumbledore Uncle Albus, I didn't realize Dumbledore had any siblings." Hermione laughed lightly, relaxing,

"Uncle Albus is my godfather. I've just always called him that. My grandmother and he went to school together, and whenever my grandparents travelled, they left my mother with Uncle Albus and they grew close, so she decided to make him my godfather."

"Oh, your mom was a witch then?" Hermione nodded,

"Yeah, but my grandparents moved to France when she was still a little girl, so she went to Beauxbatons as well." Sirius began to get a mischievous look on his face,

"James, you know what this means right?" James looked at Sirius as if he had grown an extra head,

"No Sirius, I don't know what it means,"

"It means, we need to induct Hermione into our group, and invite her in on our plans!"

"Oh right! Cause then if we get caught, we can say it was her idea!" James exclaimed,

"Right! And Dumbledore would never expel his niece!" James and Sirius high-fived.

"Woah, I don't recall agreeing to any of this," Hermione laughed at their antics, "Why would I want to get in trouble for your dirty work?"

"Just you wait Hermione, we'll win you over." Sirius winked at her, and Hermione rolled her eyes in response,

"I'll believe it when I see it," Lily added, "Hermione is too smart for you two,"

"I'd like to believe my dorm mate has better taste," Alice continued, "Now Frank, Frank is a real man, so mature," Alice sighed dreamily,

"Alice, he's a year older than us, he's not that much more mature," Marlene laughed, shaking her head.

"You're just jealous," Alice quipped.

"Have you met his mother? I actually feel sorry for you," Marlene teased,

"Come on, Augusta isn't that bad," Hermione gazed around at her friends, wondering if Mrs. Longbottom was as bad as she was in her time. From the incredulous looks on her friends faces, she assumed she was.

"Lissy," Hermione had heard her friends calling Alice that, and assumed it was a nickname, "Every time she sees you, she laments that Frank couldn't have found someone who was good enough for him, wonders why he chose to settle for you." Alice shrugged in response to Lily,

"I think it's just her way of expressing affection," she sounded hopeful. Marlene raised a delicate blonde eyebrow,

"Whatever makes you happy Lis" They had finally reached the classroom, and took their seats. As was usual, or so she had noticed, James and Sirius sat at the back, this time Remus joined them. Alice, Marlene, and Lily took a seat at the front before realizing that left Hermione alone,

"Oh, sorry I'll move and-"

"Don't worry about it Lily," Hermione smiled, taking a seat at the table beside them, "It's always good to expand your circle," Hermione knew she was lying but she also didn't want to split up the three girls. As the room filled, Hermione realized the only seats left were the two beside her. Right as class was about to start, the door burst open and a boy with dark, greasy hair quickly made his way to the front and took the remaining seat beside Hermione, not even looking at her. Professor Slughorn looked at the boy but didn't say anything, turning his attention back to the class at large,

"Good morning class!"

"Good morning Professor Slughorn," was echoed around the room.

"Now class, I have four potions set up around the room, can anyone tell me what any of them are?"

Hermione groaned internally, 'does this man never change his lessons?' If not, Hermione knew she was in for a long year. Lily was able to tell everyone that one of the potions was Amortentia, the young boy beside her identified the veritaserum. Marlene identified the polyjuice potion, but nobody was able to identify the last one,

"No one, hmm?" Slughorn looked around,

"Felix Felicis," Hermione muttered. She was fighting her natural instinct to answer questions as she knew it would be bad to draw too much attention to herself. She saw the boy beside her look at her with a raised eyebrow.

"This is Felix Felicis," Professor Slughorn said and proceeded to tell them about the potion, "Now, I am prepared to gift a vial of this to the person who prepares the best Draught of the Living Dead before the lesson is over. You may begin." Hermione pulled her book from her bag and without looking at it, walked to the cupboard and pulled the needed ingredients down before returning to her desk, she opened her book to the required page and began, not really following the instructions. Hermione took the sopophorous bean and crushed it with the flat side of her silver dagger instead of cutting it.

"Why'd you do that?" Hermione jumped and looked down at her bean, realizing she'd been working without thinking about what she was doing. She looked at the boy beside her and realized he was also using his dagger to crush the beans,

"Why'd you?" She said with a challenge in her voice,

"It releases the juice better," he said, looking at her sideways,

"Exactly"

"What I meant is why, it's not what the book says, most people don't think to deviate from the book," Hermione shrugged,

"My old potions professor was never much of a stickler for the book, figured if there was a better way, then you should do," Hermione knew it wasn't too much of a stretch, as she had learned to crush the beans from her old potions professor, she just hadn't learned it when he _was_ her professor.

"I'm Severus, by the way," Hermione had started to return to work but stopped when she heard his name. She looked at him scrutinizingly, and realized that she should have figured out who he was before now.

"Hermione," she said simply, returning to her potion. She noticed that Severus was watching her for the rest of the lesson. She noticed his surprise when she added a counter-clockwise stir after every seventh clockwise stir, and remembered that it had been one of his modifications too, cursing herself for not being more careful.

"And time's up!" Slughorn called. He wandered around the room, inspecting potions and Hermione tuned him out.

"Wow! This potion is perfect!" She turned and realized he was standing beside Severus' cauldron, beaming. He walked over to hers, and she say his eyes widen,

"Two perfect potions, my, I think you two will make a fine team this term, hmm, I suppose I could prepare another vial of potion. Congratulations you two, excellent work. You may all clean up" he announced to the class, "I will be back in a moment," he concluded to just the two of them,

"You knew what the potion was," Severus said to her, lazily waving his wand to clean out his cauldron. Hermione didn't answer, just nodded. "Why didn't you say anything?"

"Didn't feel the need to draw more attention to myself, the potion is good because I won't jeopardize my school work. But I don't need a reputation as a know-it-all. People already stare at me in the halls," Hermione finished packing her books and potions kit back in her bag and put it over her shoulder.

"Here you go," Slughorn returned, and gave each of them a vial of Felix Felicis, "This will give you 12 hours of good luck." He returned to his desk, and Hermione and Severus were left alone,

"It was good to meet you Hermione, you aren't what I would expect from a Gryffindor. Most of them are reckless and dying for attention," Severus sneered, and Hermione shook her head,

"You can't judge the individual by the group Severus. If we did, well, I've heard enough about your house that I wouldn't be going anywhere near you. But, just so you know, Gryffindors aren't all that bad," Hermione smiled kindly at him. Hermione knew much of what she said wouldn't mean anything to him yet but over time… Hermione hoped she could change his mind and save him. Severus had made bad choices, and let his bitterness and resentment get the better of him. He had been awful to them, but he had done everything he could to protect Harry, and for that Hermione would gift him a second chance as well. She would help him make the right choices this time, if he would let her.


	5. Chapter 5

**I do not own Harry Potter. Thank you to all who read, follow, favourite, and/or review!**

Chapter 5

"Hermione" she turned and saw Sirius approaching her desk. "Is Snivellus bothering you?" Sirius sneered at Severus, who glared back. Hermione angled her body so she was standing slightly between the two.

"No Sirius, Severus" Hermione emphasized his name, "and I were just talking about potions."

"Careful Severus," he sneered, "you might get Gryffindor goodness rubbed off on you,"

"Careful Black," Severus' look reminded Hermione of her potions Professor, the man he would become, "you might actually gain some intelligence around Hermione, and we all know how much you dislike being good at anything."

Sirius snarled, and pulled his wand out, Severus' flying out to match.

"Stop! Stop it now," Hermione jumped between the two placing a hand up towards both of them, "You can't just hex everyone you don't like," she looked at both of them equally as she spoke, "It's not right. Trust me, there are bigger threats than your school nemesis. Besides, it's against school rules."

"You aren't worth it anyways Black," Severus sneered at him, before turning and walking away.

"Did you see that? Why would you want to hang around with him?" Sirius' voice was filled with anger, and Hermione felt hers flare to match his,

"What I saw Sirius, was a boy who was perfectly civil until he was verbally attacked by you," she emphasized the 'you' by poking him in the chest.

"Yeah, well you don't know him like I do. Forgive me for trying to defend you. I won't next time."

"I know him about as well as I know you at this point, and what I've _seen_ is you confront him." Sirius narrowed his eyes at her and walked away, pushing through the crowd that had gathered to watch their confrontation.

"Scram you lot." Hermione looked over at the source of the voice. Lily. "Come on, before I give you all detention. I'm sure you have classes to get to." Lily joined Hermione, pulling her away from the classroom.

"I know it's not my place to tell you who to be friends with, but for once Sirius may be right. You are too, we don't know you that well, so maybe they are the people you want to hang around with, but I doubt you would have been sorted into Gryffindor if that was the case. It is your choice who you hang around, but you should know, the spells the Slytherins play with, well, they aren't friendly spells." Hermione remained silent, trying to formulate a response that wouldn't make Lily doubt her intentions, but that would also enable her to still try and help Severus.

"I don't like to judge people before getting to know them. I'm sure you've all had your own experiences with him to make you dislike him, but I haven't. He seems intelligent enough, and he's one of the only people who's first grouping of questions for me didn't include 'why did you transfer to Hogwarts?" Lily looked down at her feet, shuffling uncomfortable. "I appreciate the concern Lily, really I do." Hermione reached out to place a hand on the girl's arm. "But he hasn't given me any reason to not be friendly, and until he does..." Hermione trailed off, shrugging.

"Okay, just be careful." Hermione nodded, and Lily shook off her troubled look, replacing it with a smile. "While, come on, let's go to class."

By the time lunch came around, word had spread around the school about Hermione and Sirius' confrontation. ' _I guess the Hogwarts gossip mill doesn't change'_ Hermione bitterly thought. When her and Lily reached the dining table, she realized that none of the marauders, save for Remus, would meet her gaze.

"Good afternoon," she spoke. She received no response except for a smile, and inclination of the head from Remus. Hermione sighed, taking a seat across from Remus and the other two boys, with Lily sitting by her side.

"Are you sure you want to sit there?" Sirius sneered, "I think there's room at the Slytherin table with your new friend."

"Well at least Severus wouldn't ignore me for having a different opinion from him and not subjecting myself to abide by his rules." Sirius' face went red.

"Mate, it's not worth it," Remus shook his head. "It's not hurting you if she's friends with Snape. Let it be," Sirius' jaw dropped,

"Remus, she's fraternizing with the enemy!"

"The enemy! You want to know about who the enemy is Sirius Black? I'll tell you, his name is-"

"Is there a problem here?" Hermione saw Professor Dumbledore standing at the table a twinkle in his eye.

"No Professor." Lily shot a glare at Sirius, while Dumbledore's knowing eyes rested briefly on each teenager.

"Well then, Miss Granger, I just came over to remind you of our lesson this evening," Dumbledore leaned in closer so that only Hermione and the group of students around could hear him, "And I wanted you to know that I absolutely adore lemon sherberts." Dumbledore turned on his heel, and took his seat at the staff table.

"What was that about him liking lemon pops?" Sirius looked so lost, and Hermione felt a lurch in her heart, remembering Ron's confusion when Dumbledore had given Harry a similar clue.

"He said lemon sherberts," Lily corrected,

"Whatever," Sirius nonchalantly waved his hand, looking at Hermione, "what did he mean?"

"Now you're talking to me?" Hermione sighed, deciding to answer him anyways, "It was a message. He was letting me know what the password is to his office so I can get in tonight."

"Lemon sherberts? What kind of password is that?" James ruffled his hair, tilting his head ever so slightly to the side.

"A clever one, would you have thought to try that?" Despite responding to James, Hermione was looking at Sirius, who was being nudged by Remus.

"Oh... yeah I guess that makes sense. And if he likes them a lot, then it's probably easy for him to remember," James smiled at her, forgetting that they were supposed to be upset about who she was talking to.

"Hermione," Sirius met her eyes, "Remus insists that I need to let you make your own mistakes. I'm sorry I yelled at you in the hall, and tried to tell you who you can and can't be friends with. As Remus pointed out, it's your decision." Hermione's eyes flicked to James and Lily who both had open mouths,

"Did you just apologize to somebody Sirius? Pinch me I'm dreaming," Lily turned to Hermione, who laughed at her expression.

"It's okay Sirius. From what Lily's told me, I believe you were just trying to look out for me. But trust me, I'm more than capable of taking care of myself. I don't like to shut people out without reason, can you accept that?" Sirius' face demonstrated his inner turmoil with the decision, but in the end he nodded.

"Okay."

"Okay? Sirius, this is Snivellus we're talking about," James looked mortified,

"James, we let Lily make the decision in her own time. Hermione should be able to make the decision for herself." Sirius looked slightly pained as he spoke it, and despite herself she was surprised, knowing how much future Sirius hated Severus. But then she realized, Sirius was fighting to keep his opinions to himself and let her make her own because his parents had tried to force their opinions down his throat. Sometimes she forgot that they were all still teenagers. She was so used to adult Sirius, but all of them were still so young. This Sirius' family issues were still fresh for him, if she remembered correctly, he had just been kicked out the summer that just past.

"Your own decision?" Hermione turned to Lily, realizing that she wasn't supposed to know about her and Snape's past friendship.

"Yes, Severus and I used to be best friends, but-" Lily hesitated and Hermione wondered if she would tell her the truth. "Well, we chose different paths and grew apart."

"Chose different paths? Lily. He called you a-"

"James," Remus cut across him, and Hermione watched his eyes flash amber. "Drop it."

"You know, you aren't much better than him Potter," Lily glared at him. "I'm sorry Hermione, if you'll excuse me, I'm not sure how much more of Potter and Black I can stomach today." Lily grabbed her bag, and stormed out of the hall.

"Do you guys not get along? You seemed fine this morning and last night,"

"Post-summer respite. Lily was really just sitting with us at the opening feast to talk to me, prefect stuff. Then you sat here, so she decided to stay. Otherwise, I'm sure the girls would have sat somewhere else. Lily and I get along just fine. James, Sirius and Lily? Not so much." Remus explained. Hermione noticed that James was still looking at the door, staring at the spot where Lily had disappeared from.

"Oh..."

"Hermione!" James' eyes lit up, and he turned to face her. "You're her friend now, right?"

"I think so," she spoke with a cautionary tone.

"So, you can talk to her about me! Figure out why she won't admit to returning my affections. Let me know what to do to win her over!"

"Why would I betray her trust like that?" Hermione noticed that Sirius was trying to contain laughter, and Remus was shaking his head. Peter appeared to be hanging on to James' every word.

"Because! We'll induct you into the marauders! You'll be the first female marauder. It's an honour!" Hermione snorted

"I believe you said you were already planning on doing that because of my connection to Dumbledore,"

"Oh," James appeared to be thinking, and he gained the same expression that Harry always gained when he was contemplating something. ' _You're here to make it better, he'll be happy. He'll be able to see the similarities he shares with his dad.'_

"Well, I could return the favour!"

"What are you talking about? I don't fancy anyone here, so there would be no point in that."

"No, but you've only been here two days. Give it a month, and then let me know. It will be open-ended, if you ever need me to do some spying for you."

"I doubt I'll need it James. I'm not going to spy on Lily for you."

"Fine. I guess that means you're a good friend and all, so I can respect that," James looked dejectedly down at his plate, and in that moment, all Hermione could think of was the memories of young Harry that Dumbledore had shown her. How he looked after being shut down by his family, and before she could think it through, she blurted out an answer,

"I'll help you," James' head shot up, and a grin took over his face.

"Really!" James ran around the table and wrapped her up in a hug. "Thank you Hermione! Thank you, thank you! Ha!"

"I said I'll help you," Hermione intoned once her mind had caught up with her actions, "I'm still not going to tell you what Lily says about you. But I'll help you get her attention in a more positive light."

"Okay, whatever you say," James looked at her with wide, excited eyes, and Hermione was reminded of a young redheaded girl who had come to her looking for similar advice.

"First off, stop asking her out every chance you get,"

"How-how did you-" James spluttered

"The school talks. And I heard you ask her out first day. Also, instead of you know, hexing younger years for entertainment, stop it. If you want to go a step further, you could try helping them with homework or something. Lily is a prefect, she isn't going to want to be associated with someone who bullies those who aren't able to defend themselves against him." James opened his mouth, but Hermione held up a hand to stop him before he could ask again, "school gossip, remember?" James nodded mutely, "If I think of anything else I'll let you know, but right now I have to get to class. Remus, do you want to walk with me? You have ancient runes too right?"

"Oh, yeah, sure." Remus grabbed his bag and the two teenagers walked out together. "I don't think he was expecting any of that,"

"It's true is it not?" Hermione challenged back, and Remus raised his hands beside his head.

"I never said it wasn't. I've been trying to get them to stop bugging the younger years for ages. I help when they pull of the harmless ones, like last year for example, we enchanted suits of armor at Christmas time to wander the castle singing Christmas carols. I'm glad you called him out on it. Maybe he'll listen. James and Sirius just brushed me off, I guess they thought I was just being biased. But, you've been here all of one day, and if you noticed something, while, I guess I just hope it makes them change."

"Me too," Hermione muttered under her breath. Remus and Hermione sat together during runes, and Hermione was pleasantly surprised. She knew Remus was smart, he had been her professor, and she had developed a closer bond with him during the summer she spent at Grimmauld place, but she was thrilled to realize it wasn't experience that had made him intelligent. The teenage Remus was just as capable as his older counterpart. After runes, Hermione and Remus both had a free period, and so the two teenagers decided to head to the library to work on the essay from Professor McGonagall.

"Hermione, take a look at this." Remus pushed a book in front of her.

 _Avis, or the bird-conjuring charm, is most commonly used for illustrious purposes. The type of bird created depends on the imagination of the witch or wizard casting the spell. The least harmful outcome of incorrectly performing the spell causes a different type of bird to be produced. It is also possible to produce incomplete, or damaged birds if the caster is unfocused. If the caster is just playing around with spell, and is undetermined, and unfocused, the worst case scenario causes the birds to become volatile and attack the caster. As with all conjuring magic, the birds would not stop attacking until they are vanished. The most famous case of this was in 1543, when Clarissa Sakndenberg, daughter of former Hogwarts headmistress Edessa Sakndenberg, incorrectly cast the spell and was unable to vanish the birds until they had pecked out her eye._

"Talk about unfriendly consequences"

"That's why adult witches and wizards don't let their children play with wands. Their imaginations run wild, and with the wand to strengthen their magic, no one knows what they might come up with, and if the adult doesn't know how to counteract it..."

"I never thought about it like that before," Remus took the book back, noting the page number and book title on his essay.

"Most people don't." Remus glanced back up at Hermione who had just written the concluding sentence on her essay. It wasn't particularly hard when she knew what books to look for, this being her second time writing the same essay.

"You're done!" Remus appeared shocked, and Hermione felt her cheeks warm.

"Yeah, I had a lot of time to explore the library over the summer so I knew where to look." Hermione met Remus' gaze, and decided it was time to enact her plan. She pulled a book about werewolves from her bag, making sure Remus saw the title. She watched him stiffen and turn pale, all while pretending not to notice.

"What class is that for?" She heard the tightness in his voice,

"It's not for class. Just a bit of light reading,"

"Why would you want to read about werewolves? They're monsters." Hermione looked up and met his gaze, and Remus flinched from the intensity of it.

"No they aren't. I'm reading this because that's what I want to do after I graduate Hogwarts. I want to work in the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical creatures, and change the laws that discriminate against them and house elves and others that should have rights. Werewolves are people too, they just have a furry problem once a month. That isn't their fault. They deserve to live like everyone else." Remus looked at her suspiciously,

"Why are you reading that book then? All it talks about is the cons of werewolves, and how they're horrendous monsters who will eat your children, among other things." Hermione shrugged,

"If you want to argue with the majority, you have to understand where their opinion comes from. You have to understand their prejudice and their viewpoint before you can change it." Remus' jaw dropped. "I'm sorry if you disagree. I know most wizards do," Hermione continued the charade, "but I guess you're just one more person I'll have to convince." Hermione looked fiercely at Remus who quickly shook his head,

"I don't know. I mean if they can't control themselves, and they hurt someone…" Hermione shook her head,

"There are so many precautions they can take Remus. Did you know there is a man, his name is Damocles, and he is currently doing trials on a potion, called the wolfsbane potion, which allows werewolves to keep their mind when they transform? Werewolves aren't monsters. They're just misunderstood." Hermione turned back to her book, and saw out of the corner of her eye that Remus was looking at her with something akin to awe.

"Yeah, maybe you're right," he whispered. Hermione smiled, realizing she had officially started her mission. She had begun to make things better.


	6. Chapter 6

**I do not own Harry Potter. Thank you to all who read, follow, favourite, and/or review!**

Chapter 6

That night after dinner, Hermione found herself once again outside of the headmaster's office.

"Lemon sherberts," the gargoyle turned, and Hermione made her way upstairs.

"Enter" the headmaster spoke before she could even raise a hand to knock. Hermione walked in to the room, and she took a seat in front of him.

"Are we actually studying alchemy tonight Professor?"

"No, the first order meeting is tonight."

"Of course, I brought Harry's cloak with me just in case."

"Well then Miss Granger, if you would." Dumbledore extended his arm to her. Hermione took it, and felt the familiar tug in her stomach as they apparated. When they landed Hermione looked around, not recognizing the surroundings.

"This is my family home. It will be used as order headquarters. You should put that cloak on now Miss Granger, Aberforth should be arriving from the ministry shortly, and everyone else should be arriving within the next ten minutes or so." Hermione did as he suggested, and followed him into the room. She stood in the corner, out of the way so no one would accidentally bump into her. She watched as people entered recognizing them all, albeit some only by their photos. Aberforth was first to arrive, taking the seat beside his brother, and Moody soon joined the group, taking the chair on Dumbledore's opposite side. Dorcas Meadowes and Edgar Bones entered, laughing at a joke Fabian and Gideon Prewitt were telling behind them. Hermione was startled when Elphias Doge walked in, she had never seen him that young, and it took her a moment to recognize him. Arabella Figg, Benjy Fenwick, Caradoc Dearborn, Dedalus Diggle, Mundungus Fletcher, and Sturgis Podmore soon joined the group. Minerva was the last member to arrive, walking in moments after Hagrid. Hermione knew the group was small, but she also knew that in two years, they would have at least eight more members when the current Hogwarts students graduated.

"Now that we've all arrived I would like to get started. As you all know, it is my intent to try and form a resistance against Voldemort before he becomes too powerful to stop. I have asked each of you here because I have confidence in your capabilities, and your ability to keep a secret." Hermione could've sworn his eyes lingered on Hagrid momentarily, "We aren't strong enough yet to provide a full frontal assault, but we will do what we can to protect the rest of the wizarding world from the tyrant that is Voldemort." Hermione spent the rest of the meeting listening to the many suggestions of the order members as they thought up ways to begin preventing Voldemort's reign of terror, weighing the pros and cons of each suggestion. She knew Dumbledore would not send anyone on a mission until they had discussed whether or not the benefits outweighed the risks, because there would be risks, no matter what they did.

"Thank you everyone for being here, I wish to think on all of this. Before I send someone on a mission, I'd like to try and get some inside information on whether or not it is achievable. I will follow up with you if it has been deemed plausible. I suggest we meet again once more information is available to us. If any of you learn anything, you know how to reach me." Dumbledore smiled, with a twinkle in his eye, and Hermione saw the confused looks on the others faces. She knew they had been expecting some form of action to take place,

"That's it? No actual effort to start to change anything?" Dorcas looked perturbed,

"I have an inside source, I do not wish to send anyone on a suicide mission Miss Meadowes," Dumbledore's voice remained calm, despite the accusatory tone in Dorcas' voice.

"Professor, with all due respect, I thought that we were deciding on what actions to take and that is why we were meeting?" Albus nodded his head in acknowledgement to Gideon's question,

"We were trying to determine a theoretical course of action to act upon once it has been deemed to not be a death sentence,"

"Sir, we're fighting in the beginning of what could be a war, there is going to be death." Edgar looked perplexed,

"But there's no need to waste life boy, yes there will be death. But if we know that you are certainly going to die, we aren't going to send you in, it would achieve nothing" Moody growled,

"If you're sure Albus," Minerva met his eyes,

"I am." Seeing that both Moody and Minerva had agreed, no one else saw fit to contradict Dumbledore, and slowly people filtered out of the room and back to their homes.

"Are you sure there is nothing to be done Albus?" Aberforth approached his brother, and Hermione noticed that there was distrust in his eyes.

"Not right now brother. I don't wish to lose people if we don't have to, even if it's for the greater good." Aberforth's eyes flashed at Albus' wording, but he didn't argue.

"Okay."

"I will see you at the next meeting," Albus turned to meet Hermione's gaze under the cloak, and she made her way over to him. When he felt her hand on his arm, Albus apparated, and the next moment Hermione was back in the headmaster's office.

"Which missions appear most feasible?" Hermione thought for a moment, pulling out the notebook where she had constructed a timeline of events.

"Fabian's idea about trailing known death eaters has merit, but I don't think it should be all of them, and I don't think it should be all the time. I would recommend Lucius and B-bellatrix," Hermione closed her eyes, suppressing the memories that were attempting to jump to the forefront of her mind. "Inform whoever is trailing Bellatrix though to remain disillusioned at all times. If she were to ever know, or even suspect," Hermione hesitated, "well, I don't want to think about what she would do to them. Set up watch schedules, that way they aren't going to see the same person following them."

"If I might ask, why Lucius and Bellatrix?"

"Voldemort gave Lucius one of his horcruxes to safeguard. I don't think it wise to retrieve it right now, but, I do want to monitor and see if he has it yet, and if he does where it is. My reasoning is the same for Bellatrix, the only difference is I'm not as sure on the timeline for Bellatrix. He might not have given it to her until later on. Lucius I know receives his within the next two or three years, I'm just praying it was the same with Bellatrix." Dumbledore nodded,

"I will set it up then." Hermione and Dumbledore spent the rest of the night going over the other ideas, and in the end decided for the moment to just watch and try to determine exactly where and when horcruxes were created, knowing that until they had them, they could not defeat Tom.

"Well, if that is all my dear, I believe it is time you returned to your dormitory, your friends must be wondering where you are," Hermione's eyes went to the clock, and she realized it was already 30 minutes past curfew,

"Actually sir, I was wondering if you could get some potion ingredients for me,"

"What do you need potion ingredients for? Does the potion storeroom not have adequate supplies for you?"

"They aren't common ingredients. It's for the wolfsbane potion, for Remus. I figured I could make it for him and you could give it to him? Tell him that you heard about it and thought perhaps he would like to try it?" Albus smiled at the young woman before him,

"That's very kind of you Hermione, send me the list, I will take care of the rest."

"Thank you Professor," Hermione left the office, utilising the castle's secret passages so as to avoid Filch.

"Fortis," Hermione spoke the password,

"Feeling confident, coming in after curfew?" The fat lady looked haughtily at her, "It's that crowd you're hanging around with. Those boys, always sneaking in late, and-"

"Fortis" Hermione spoke with more force. The fat lady huffed, but swung open anyways, and Hermione crawled through the portrait hole.

"Hey Hermione," Hermione startled and whipped her wand out, focusing on the source of sound before her mind could process the situation. When she realized it was just Sirius, and that he now had both hands up on either side of his head she quickly lowered her wand.

"Geez, I already said sorry for how I acted before, I can say it again if it prevents me getting hexed,"

"No, I'm sorry, you just startled me," Hermione forced a smile on her face, trying to calm her breathing so she could loosen the grip on her wand. While she mentally tried to relax, she moved over to the couch so as to raise as little suspicion as possible. She took a seat on the couch beside Sirius. Hermione took a deep breath as she sat and let the tension out of her body, pocketing her wand again.

"You alright?" Hermione turned to face Sirius, maintaining her smile,

"Of course, why wouldn't I be?" Sirius looked incredulously at her face and then down at her pocket where the top of her wand was still visible. When his gaze returned to her face, he raised an eyebrow, but didn't respond. "You startled me that's all. I wasn't expecting anyone to be awake still." Sirius seemed to hesitate, but then nodded, accepting her answer, and she breathed a sigh of relief.

"James just went upstairs to grab his exploding snap deck. Peter went to bed already. We were waiting for you to come back from your lesson, and Remus to come back, he's still in the library, doing," Sirius swallowed and shook his head, looking around the room before whispering, "homework." Hermione burst out laughing and Sirius nodded,

"I know, it's awful isn't it?"

"No. How do you expect to pass your courses if you don't do homework?"

"No," Sirius gasped, hand on his heart, "you're one of them. Oh Hermione, I had such high hopes for you," Sirius wiped a fake tear from his eye, "we were going to teach you our ways, not Moony's."

"You do know I studied before I met Remus, don't you Sirius?" Hermione smirked at him as Sirius put on a fake hurt expression.

"Oh Hermione, you are just making this more difficult for us. But I'm sure we can break you of the habit,"

"What habit?" Hermione smiled at James as he made his way down the stairs, and when he grinned back, Hermione momentarily saw green eyes staring at her, before she shook her head and they returned to brown,

"Studying," Sirius shivered,

"Filthy habit Hermione, don't worry we'll help you stop it," James took the seat on her opposite side,

"I'm quite content with the habit actually,"

"I'm sure muggles are happy without magic, until they experience it," James smirked at her,

"That's not even close to the same thing," Hermione shook her head, unable to prevent her smile.

"Maybe not, but it is still equally true." Hermione shook her head, but before she could respond, the portrait door opened again,

"Hey Moony," Sirius grinned, "I'm glad you're here, you can help us." Remus looked warily between the three of them,

"With what?"

"We are going to help Hermione break her bad habits," James ducked the hand Hermione swatted at his head,

"Ignore them Remus,"

"I've learned over the years that doesn't really work," Remus' eyes sparkled, and Hermione felt her heart lighten, Remus looked happier than she had ever seen him in her time,

' _Yeah well he hasn't lost his friends yet, has he you dolt'_ her mind interjected.

"What habit are we breaking?"

"This dreadful studying thing," Sirius pretended to shiver again, and Remus rolled his eyes,

"Can't help you there. Unfortunately I haven't managed to kick the habit myself," Remus smiled fondly at his friends, "but on an important topic, how was your lesson with Professor Dumbledore Hermione?"

"It was interesting, we just looked at the very basics tonight. The four elements, what is alchemy."

"How was it working with Professor Dumbledore?" Sirius looked intrigued,

"Like working with any other Professor I guess. Just because I'm his goddaughter doesn't mean he treats me differently than the other students in a school environment." Sirius looked disappointed,

"He treats you like everyone else? You mean you'll get into trouble too if we blame you for our pranks?"

"Yes, I do believe I already told you that Sirius,"

"But you'll help us anyway?"

"Thanks Hermione" James spoke before she could contradict Sirius,

"It'll be great to have another mastermind, Remus can only help us so much around his study schedule, so you see why that's a bad habit. It takes time away from pranking."

"I'm not going to help you," Hermione spoke firmly,

"Hermione! What if it was life or death, what if someone told you that you had to help us prank someone or they would kill James or me?" Hermione shook her head, chuckling at his antics,

"I would ask them if they wanted assistance" Hermione teased, knowing it wasn't true. She had come too far to let any harm come to them now.

"Hermione," Sirius slumped back in the couch hand over his heart, "why must you wound me so?"

"Grow up Pad," Remus rolled his eyes, "you can't win everyone over with your dramatics"

"Dramatics? I mean every word Moon. Your accusation otherwise breaks my heart, don't you know me better by now,"

"Yes, which is exactly why I know you are being melodramatic." Sirius grabbed a throw pillow from the couch and chucked it at Remus' head. Remus looked startled as it hit him square in the face. "Oh it's so on Sirius Black," Remus grabbed the pillow from the floor and whacked Sirius upside the head with it,

"Ouch Moon, I know you like it rough but,"

"Sirius!" Remus turned pink, and when Hermione turned an inquisitive gaze on him, he turned away to face James.

"Well, I think that's enough for me. Unlike you lot, I'd prefer to get some sleep tonight, see you all tomorrow," Remus turned on his heel, and quickly hurried up the stairs.

"Pad, that might've been a step too far," James sighed, shaking his head.

"Why Prongs, if it was just us he wouldn't have had an issue, and he knows I wasn't referring to sex," Sirius rolled his eyes,

"Sometimes you're thick, you know that, right?"

"I am pretty thick," Sirius waggled his eyebrows suggestively, and James shook his head,

"You know," Hermione spoke pensively,

"My talk of thickness got you interested, eh love?" Sirius smirked at her,

"Actually, I was going to say that overconfidence is usually a sign of overcompensation," Hermione smirked, "Night night boys," Hermione turned and headed up the stairs before Sirius could compose himself enough for a comeback. James' howls of laughter followed her up the stairs.

When she reached the dormitory, all her roommates were already asleep, so Hermione got ready for bed, setting her silencing charms as she crawled under the sheets. Even though she knew it would do no good, she made one last wish before falling to sleep,

 _Please don't let me have nightmares tonight._


End file.
